21 Mar What Are You Known For?

Two questions for you:

What are you known for? When your name comes up in conversation, what do people say?

What is the church known for? When people talk about Jesus or his followers, what words do they use?

Too often, the church is known by what it’s against.

We want to be known by what we’re for. That’s how Jesus was known.

As a church community and as individual followers of Jesus, we want to take our cue from him and be for people and share the love of Christ with:

• People who aren’t yet inside the walls of a church
• People who have never heard about Jesus
• The teens in your school, in your choir, and on your team that have no idea how awesome life with Jesus is
• The students at Stevenson, Towson and CCBC that think Jesus is joke
• The students you teach who need to see Jesus in you
• The parents you interact with throughout the week
• The kids you coach and their families
• The retirees who are done working but have yet to really live life

And all of this starts with you and Jesus. With you being committed to this vision of being for people, praying for people, and acting on it.

Here are three steps you can think through as you seek to live out this vision:

1. Come to United with a friend – Invite a friend out to Skeptics Wanted.
2. Connect with someone new – Come early and stay a little later to meet people in the lobby or join a group.
3. Contribute to the vision – Jump on a team, start giving, and own this vision in your own life.

Watch the phrase “my church is for people” transition to “we are for people.” Let’s show the people in our lives, and the people of Owings Mills and Reisterstown that we are for them. And, more importantly, that God is for them.